title: The epidemiological survey of acute traumatic spinal cord injury (ATSCI) of 2002 in Beijing municipality.
abstract: METHODS
  Epidemiological survey.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the incidence and epidemiology of acute traumatic spinal cord injury (ATSCI) of 2002 in Beijing municipality.
  
  
  METHODS
  Beijing.
  
  
  METHODS
  After quota sampling, data of all ATSCI patients who were injured in Beijing in 2002 from sample hospitals were collected for detailed investigation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all, 1079 patients were estimated to have ATSCI in 2002 in Beijing municipality and the annual incidence was 60.6 per million. The incidence increased more than ninefold compared with that of 6.7 per million between 1982 and 1986. The mean age of patients at the time of injury was 41 years. The male/female ratio was 3.1/1. The causes of injury were fall from height (37.5%), traffic accidents (26.9%), struck by object (16.3%) and fall on ground (8.3%), in that order. The mean expenditure of hospitalisation was 27819.3 RMB in 2002. The proportion of cervical, thoracic and lumbar injuries was 4.9, 28.0 and 65.9, respectively in 2002. The mean time of hospitalisation was 18.9 days and only 1.5% of the spinal cord injury (SCI) patients went to rehabilitation hospitals after their discharge. The severity of neurological impairment was not recorded in the majority of hospitals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a rapid increase of the annual SCI incidence from 1982 to 2002 during an economic boom. Safety regulations are of primary importance in preventing the injury. Once happened, long-term health insurance is essential for the well-being of the victims. Although some improvement has been made since 2002, much remains to be done in this direction.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, Capital Medical University, China Rehabilitation Research Centre, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult